Writers’ Crossing — Using Story Beats
Dramatis personae
- Billy the skunk
- Corrin the Capybara
Outline
- Goal or agenda:
- Billy doesn’t have time for love, too busy being professional skunk - twinge of loneliness b/c no +1
- Corrin has body image struggles because she’s shaped like a capybara
- Meet cute:
- Office party b/c they are coworkers
- No Way #1:
- Billy: Corrin is in a different department and doesn’t have a great working rep
- Corrin: He’s so handsome…too handsome, the suit may mean he’s a jerk
- Stuck together:
- Broken elevator
- Corrin kind of freaking out b/c this is making her late to a meeting her job is riding on
- Billy offers story for why she was late, showing that he understands more of her troubles on the job
- Billy learns about Corrin’s lack of self esteem
- Corrin learns why Billy’s so motivated
- No Way! #2:
- Billy doesn’t want to get distracted. Trying to help the company as a whole, and maybe that will help corrin, but he can’t let that get in the way.
- Corrin tries to play it off, he was just being nice, but she still harbors doubts. Two options:
- Corrin hears from a friend that she should go for him, but resists that idea
- Corrin hears from a friend that he’s really good at acting nice but is actually terrifying
- Bone Town™:
- A frank exchange of opinions and fears over skee-ball at Dave and Bustersn
- Swaps numbers, but pen explodes over tie
- Billy is self-conscious about what others will think of this relationship; embarrassed that this felt good
- Corrin is optimistic; scared but relieved
- There’s some mixed signals re: expectations for each other and feelings for each other
- Seed of doubt:
- Billy
- Wallow #1: Texting/DMs with college buddy, bouncing off this idea that he’s embarrassed (also gives other character chance to give billy some backstory)
- Retreat: Starting to feel for her, but it turns out she really isn’t a great employee (but based around anxiety attacks), so it could reflect poorly on him as upper management if they were to go out
- Choose fear: work is too important to try and make relationship work, etc
- Wallow #2: light-hearted: getting drunk at the jazz bar; darker: pulling all-nighters at work b/c that way won’t have to think about it
- Corrin
- Wallow #1: She got Billy’s number, but balks before actually texting because she’s still scared about the possibilities.
- Retreat: Finally tries to reveal soft spot for Billy, but texts the wrong number, retreats.
- Choose fear: he gave me the wrong number because suit = jerk; maybe she got fired and it looks like it came from him (if only in the heat of the moment)
- Wallow #2: catharsis of eating garbage food/screaming into karaoke
- Choose love:
- Billy: distraction is not happiness, work is just distraction
- Corrin: can’t tackle self image without validation, and hey, Billy gave her that; finds out that it wasn’t an intentionally wrong number
- Plan and risk:
- Corrin: fuck it, gonna go buy him a tie
- Grand Gesture:
- Corrin: replaces Billy’s tie (maybe with something outrageous b/c quirky)
- Ends with yes:
- puts on tie, looks terrible on him, laughs, smooch
- Payoff:
- Asks to go on vacation w/ because he’s a workaholic.
- Hope:
- She looks at herself in the mirror, frowning at the thought of beachwear, he hugs and comforts, they go for a walk on the beach.